


everything I'd ever want (inside us here)

by ladybonehollows



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Fluff and Feels, Gen, M/M, Post canon, Wedding Fluff, post brothersong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24900637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybonehollows/pseuds/ladybonehollows
Summary: With a barely-there quirk of his mouth, Gavin turned back to watch the others. He was silent for a while, and I started to think he wasn’t going to say anything. And then: “I never thought I’d have this.”At Kelly and Robbie's wedding, Carter and Gavin have a quiet moment. It goes about as well as quiet moments with Carter usually do.
Relationships: Carter Bennett & Kelly Bennett, Carter Bennett/Gavin Livingstone, Kelly Bennett/Robbie Fontaine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57
Collections: Green Creek Bingo





	everything I'd ever want (inside us here)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Flowerparrish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowerparrish/gifts).



> This was written for Jenny for the notalonehere program. I hope you enjoy! The prompt was "Carter and Gavin being cute at Kelly and Robbie's wedding", and it accidentally grew some feels, but I hope it's okay!
> 
> Thanks to my ever-wonderful beta Sam, who makes everything I write better.
> 
> This is absolutely a general post-canon fic, but if you want to read it as set in the Don't Fade Away verse then you're entirely welcome to since that's what I was thinking of when I wrote it. Oops?
> 
> I'm also using this to fill my free space on my Green Creek Bingo card, because I can.
> 
> Enjoy!

Without knocking, I opened the door to Kelly’s old bedroom and walked straight in, flopping down onto the bed with my hands tucked underneath my head. Kelly didn’t turn around, but the reflection of his eyes found me in the mirror. His mouth was pinched. “Didn’t Joe tell you I wanted a few minutes alone?”

“Sure he did,” I said with a shrug. Like that was ever going to stop me, and Kelly knew it too, because instead of protesting, he rolled his eyes and continued to fuss with his appearance in the mirror. He was all dressed up in his suit, his hair neatly styled, flowers pinned to his jacket pocket. I could feel his heart jackrabbiting under his ribs like it was my own. “Are you nervous?”

“No,” he said, as he nervously tried to straighten his already-straight tie. He paused, his eyes flickering toward me once more. “Do you think he’s nervous?” he asked hesitantly.

It took everything I had not to get up and pinch his cheek. “I dunno. Probably. Gavin’s checking on him now.” I couldn’t help but smile at Gavin’s casual insistence that he go over to the blue house to see how Robbie was getting on. They’d become fast friends since Gavin had come home, but I think it had started before then. Gavin had told me how he’d stopped Robbie from leaving on his own back before we’d first taken on Caswell. My smile slipped when I wondered if Kelly’s mind had gone to the same place and was seeing a different meaning. Because there was  _ no way  _ that Kelly had anything to worry about. “Even if he is,” I said carefully, pushing myself up onto my elbows, “that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want this. That guy has redefined puppy eyes. His whole face is one giant puppy eye whenever you walk in the room.”

Finally, Kelly turned to face me. A slow smile spread across his face. “I know,” he said. “He loves me.”

And just like that, my throat was tightening, and  _ this wasn’t the thing that was going to make me cry today, goddamn it. _ But he said it so easily and confidently, and it was everything opposite from what the stereotype of this moment was supposed to be, and… and I was so impossibly proud of my brother, and my friend, and the fact that they had this chance to be happy together.

Pushing myself off the bed, I crossed the room and wrapped my arm around Kelly’s neck, and if his hair got mussed as I pulled his head against my shoulder, it totally wasn’t my fault. “I am really, really fucking proud of you,” I told him honestly.

He pushed at my shoulder, but so halfheartedly that it wasn't worth the effort. "Stop it."

"I mean it."

"Nothing's really going to change. This is the important thing," he said, pulling away to touch his fingers to the bite at his neck. "We've already chosen each other."

I shook my head. He could try and make it not a big deal all he wanted, but we both knew it meant something. "But you get to keep choosing each other. And that's pretty fucking great."

His smile turned almost shy. "Yeah," he said softly, his eyes alight. "Yeah, it is."

* * *

As far as quiet spots went, the corner of the marquee was probably not the best option. Just a few yards away was a forest that we could disappear into, and even with our heightened hearing, it wouldn’t be too long before we left the music and the chatter and the laughter behind.

The thing was, I didn’t  _ want _ to leave it all behind, and I knew that Gavin didn’t either, not really. We could still take a moment just for us, create a calm little bubble of our own for a few minutes, within the happy bubble everybody else was swimming in.

My brother was  _ married _ . Kelly was married, he was smiling and, as I watched, laughing in surprise and shock as Robbie tried to smush cake into his mouth. Despite his surprise, Kelly was too quick — he caught Robbie’s hand and took a deliberate mouthful of cake before licking icing off of his fingers, leaving Robbie with a dumbstruck expression.

I loved them so fucking much.

The wedding was cocktail style and casual, but there were a few tables for sitting around the edges of the marquee, and that’s where I’d pulled Gavin when he’d started looking claustrophobic. He’d dropped into the seat beside me, quickly shuffling over until his shoulder was flush against mine, and had let me pull his hand into my lap. Now, I was playing with his fingers, rubbing my thumb deep into his palm, stroking gently at the skin at his wrist. Just touching him. The two of us were watching the crowd, but it felt like his mind was elsewhere, so I did my best to keep him grounded.

The silence wasn’t heavy, though, so I didn’t push him by asking him about it.

It had been almost a year since we’d brought him back, and it had taken a while for Gavin to feel at home in Green Creek. Not because he didn't want to be here, or because anyone was unwelcoming. I’d been ready to fight anyone on that, but the town had taken to him as though he’d grown up amongst them, and instead I’d found myself backing them off. It'd been so long since Gavin had had  _ calm _ and  _ happy _ that it had taken him a while to learn how to relax.

Gavin's hand tightened around mine, but it wasn’t until I felt his concern through the bond that I realised that I was the one who had been squeezing. I loosened my grip, but didn't let go.

But I tried to put my attention back on the wedding reception. Joe, Ox, Gordo, and Mark were talking together, and despite Gordo’s disgruntled expression, I couldn’t feel anything other than amusement coming from him. Jessie, Dominique, and Bambi had their heads together in another corner. The rest of the shop boys were close enough that I could hear Chris bemoaning that  _ what was the point of going to a wedding if you can’t get drunk anyway? _ while Tanner chased Carly in circles around Rico’s legs, her dress covered in grass stains and what I could only hope was food.

Even if I couldn't feel the steady thrum of  _ green _ , the wonder of happiness, pouring out of half of the people in the room, I could see it as clear as day. This was victory. This was living. This was what we’d earned.

That wonder was coming most strongly from the man at my side, but it was tinged by something deeper, something… Not darker.  _ Blue _ . Just a little. I wanted to poke it. I wanted to smooth it over so that Gavin never had to feel any hint of a bad thing again ever. I squeezed Gavin's hand deliberately this time, begging his attention. He gave it instantly, turning to face me. "You're quiet," I said.

Gavin just raised an eyebrow at me. Which was just fine — I was an expert at reading Gavin's expressions by now. This one said, "Uh-huh, because normally I’d be dancing on the roof and singing 80’s hits at the top of my lungs."

Okay, fine. Maybe it was more like, “I’m always quiet.” Same-same.

Regardless, that eyebrow was  _ full _ of sarcasm. As much as I lived for it, it didn’t push back the worry for long, and my grin slipped. “Quiet- _ er _ .”

With a barely-there quirk of his mouth, Gavin turned back to watch the others. He was silent for a while, and I started to think he wasn’t going to say anything. And then: “I never thought I’d have this.”

The party in front of us faded into a blur of irrelevance at the softness in Gavin’s voice, and I turned to watch him closely. He spoke with no build up, the words so quiet that they might have been hidden by the music if not for the strength of my hearing. The smile he was wearing looked almost sad, but I could feel the fullness of his heart and my own swelled in response. “This?” I asked carefully, tilting my head toward the party. I didn’t want to take anything for granted.

Gavin’s throat moved as he swallowed. He didn’t take his eyes off the people around us, but it wasn’t with wariness that he watched them. I thought for a moment that it might be longing, but that wasn’t it either. No, it was  _ green _ . It was  _ relief _ . Gratitude. That feeling when the thing that you’ve always longed for becomes yours. My throat tightened before he continued.

“Even when I had a family, it was never like this. And then they were gone, and I thought... “ His jaw clenched. “I stopped thinking. There was only wolf. And pain. So much pain.” Gavin dropped his eyes to where our hands were twined together in my lap, and I realised that I’d been squeezing them again. I didn’t loosen my grip this time. When Gavin raised his eyes to me, his usual guard was dropped completely, and I felt like I could drown in bittersweet. “And then —”

My heart was too full. So I opened my mouth to let some of it out before it burned me up from the inside. "A big, strong, handsome man came along…"

Gavin grinned at me. Or at least, he bared his teeth. It might have been more of a grimace.

We both knew what had happened then. I hadn't realised what I'd had until it had walked away from me to save my life. I still didn’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself.

The inches between us were too much. Without letting go of his hand, I leaned into him, turning my face into his neck so that I could breathe him in.  _ You’re here you’re here you’re here.  _ Gavin didn’t stiffen, which was miles of progress from what he’d been like when he’d first come home. Gavin had been too on edge to exist, let alone feel relaxed enough for PDA, and every moment of comfort was a victory. “I'm never letting you go again,” I whispered fiercely.

Gavin's arm came around me immediately, his hand warm on the back of my neck, holding me close. I’d never been more full of gratitude than I was right now. To have Gavin here with me, to have my family together and whole, to see Kelly, my brilliant brother Kelly smiling so brightly as he married the man he loved.

I felt Gavin's mouth against the side of my head, and thought about how we looked, hidden in the corner with our arms around each other. I rubbed my cheek against Gavin's shoulder, his dress shirt soft against my skin and smelling more like me with every second. I wanted everyone to know that we belonged to each other. Just as much as Kelly and Robbie.  _ This one's mine. Look at how I'm his. _

"Dance with me," I said before I could stop myself.

"Carter," he started.

"You don't have to," I said quickly. Of course he wouldn’t want to. "It's silly." Gavin made a sound somewhere between a groan and a growl against my neck, and then pulled back, shifting his grip on my hand as he stood up. "It's really not a big deal." There was an interesting set to Gavin’s jaw as he pulled me to my feet beside him. I didn’t try to hide my grin. “Who even likes dancing anyway?"

Gavin led us toward the dance floor, and I couldn’t hold in my laughter anymore. If I thought he was doing it just for me, I’d have stopped him in a second, but there was a touch of nervous excitement reaching through our bond. He’d just said it — he never thought he’d have this: a family to surround himself with, a mate to dance with at the wedding of one of his pack. For all of his grumbling, I thought he wanted this too. This moment of normalcy, of happiness, of celebrating each other.

Setting my feet, I tugged hard on Gavin’s hand, pulling him back into my arms and stilling him with a kiss. Gavin inhaled sharply when our mouths met. “I love you,” I murmured against his lips, and felt all of his tension seep out of him at once.

His arm was warm around my waist, and his forehead pressed against mine. I opened my eyes, and found his still closed. “I love you, too,” he said, like a confession that I would never tire of hearing.

Grinning, I pulled back. "I know, otherwise it wouldn't be so easy to talk you into dancing with me."

With a roll of his eyes, Gavin let me pull him onto the dance floor. Really, it was just a cleared area in the centre of the marquee, the grass more trampled than the rest of the space. People danced in pairs and in groups, and no one spared us a glance as we joined them.

Or so they wanted us to think. I felt eyes on us, and knew Gavin would too. His body moved stiffly, and yeah, I could tell that part of it was nerves, but there was something else that ran deeper than that, something present in the way he held me. “You love this,” I said, dropping my voice low, unable to help teasing him just a little. “You love them all seeing us together, everyone knowing that I’m yours.” His eyes flashed, and it might have been a warning if I couldn’t feel the rush of  _ mine _ screaming through him. “You  _ love it. _ ”

One of Gavin’s hands shifted to the back of my neck, and then he was pulling me down, kissing me as firmly as I’d kissed him before. I couldn’t help the shiver that ran through me at the brush of teeth against my lips. Gavin kissed me until I was breathless, and my head spun with want when he pulled back and I saw the flush creeping up his neck. He set his eyes firmly just below mine, and I wondered whether he was more concerned with avoiding my gaze or those of the people around us. How was he so fucking  _ adorable _ ? My adorable, grumpy mate. “I hate you,” he grumbled, as though he’d heard my thoughts.

I kissed his cheek, a quick brush of lips against skin before I pulled him closer. “See, that's funny, because you just said you loved me  _ literally  _ thirty seconds ago.”

We danced, and danced, and it was so stupidly  _ nice. _ When did we get to be happy for long enough to have nice things? When did we ever feel safe enough to have this? I smoothed my hand up and down Gavin's back until he relaxed into me, dropping his head to rest his forehead against my shoulder and  _ how do we get to have this, how is this mine, how how how— _

And if I held him a little too tight for dancing, then no one was going to call me out on it.

Except for Kelly, apparently, who was now dancing with Robbie on the other side of the dance floor. Kelly, whose face softened dramatically as he put his hand to his chest and mouthed  _ Awww _ with far too much sincerity to actually be, well, sincere.

The effect was ruined slightly by the grin on his face and the fondness in his eyes, but still.

It was still a challenge. Particularly when he was looking just as sappy, with his arms around his new  _ husband _ . He thought  _ we _ looked sappy? Puh- _ lease _ . I raised my eyebrows at him as high as I could, looking pointedly at him and Robbie, and then shifted my grip on Gavin as subtly as I could to free up one of my hands.

Kelly snorted, and Robbie looked over his shoulder to see what Kelly was laughing at just in time to see me pretending to gag at the sight of the two of them dancing.

It wasn’t my fault. He knew what family he was marrying into.

_ And  _ he’d chosen to be pack with us.  _ Twice. _

It was really his own fault. 

Kelly was still laughing though, and that was all that mattered. The grin and eyeroll Robbie sent me before he turned away was pretty good, too.

A heavy sigh reached my ears, and I turned my head to see a blend of exasperation and indulgence on Mom’s face as she danced with Mark nearby. “Charming,” she said dryly, but didn’t try to hide her smile. Mark just looked amused.

“You love me too, remember!” I reminded her. Gavin started to lift his head, but I put my hand on the back of his neck to hold him still. “Absolutely nothing is happening, and I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mom shook her head fondly. Kelly was grinning when I looked back to him. “Stupid Carter,” he mouthed.

“Hey!” I called across the room. “That's not funny when anyone else says it!”

Gavin stopped trying to lift his head, and shook it against my shoulder instead. “Do you ever stop?” he groaned, but I could feel the laughter that shook his shoulders.

Kelly was still watching us. His smile had turned into something warmer, something deeper, and I felt that warmth spread right through me like my own. After fighting so hard for longer than I could bear, we were  _ happy, _ and I was surprised to realise that I was happy and  _ unafraid _ . I could let myself enjoy this without worrying something bad was going to happen.

We were okay. We were finally  _ okay. _

Just a few years ago, I was losing hope that we could bring Robbie home, and now he was dancing at his wedding in my brother's arms. Last year, I hadn't dared to dream that Gavin could be here like he was now. Here and happy and so thoroughly  _ mine _ . There was no one chasing after us, trying to break us apart, threatening our lives. There was nothing I could want more than this. I pulled Gavin closer, kissing the side of his head. "Nope," I said. “I’ll never stop.”

Gavin paused, then his arms slid more tightly around me, pulling me more flush against him. I tightened my arms, holding him so close that the most we could manage was the barest sway. I wasn’t letting him go for anything.


End file.
